In all the old school blind tests, wide dispersion is preferred over narrow dispersion speakers all else being essentially equal.
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Ascend Sierra-1 V2 Speaker Review
- Thread starter amirm
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that's what I remember the results being as well , but .. depending on the room , things can really change...
Some of this guys thoughts are consistent with the measurements but there are also some subjective comments I would take with a grain of salt such as the Ascilab speakers sounded "plasticy", very odd considering he mentions the cabinet looks and feels like plastic as well, it reminds of people who say metal dome tweeters have a metallic sound which Dr. Toole basically disproved in blind listening tests. His comments about bass response are why I like to focus on 80-100Hz and up and neuter the bass below those frequencies when I test speakers, I know I'll be using subs and I know the room modes will be handled so I don't really care if a speaker excites them too much, only that they are able to blend with my subs. I would personally test the LX by high passing them high enough to take away that bass boost and in that case they won't have any bass bloat, just something to consider.
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I found I preferred wide dispersion in an A/B test, but preferred lower dispersion when listening critically over time.
Room/placement. I remember 1 test that was done in Dr. Toole's book where the preference switch based on placement in the same room. If the speakers were away form the walls/early reflections, a broad, smooth pattern was preferred.
I'd personally love to own an AsciLab and an excellent omni (if one will ever exist).
this.... i'm *hopefully* going to *end up with* bmr monitors and a narrower dispersion alternative as a contrast (like ascilab)... I think that's about as close as I can get within my financial limitations...
Toshiba191
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I have a few more questions regarding these speakers:
Where is the acoustic center? At tweeter level or between the tweeter and the woofer?
Can you point them off-axis / parallel to each other? Or should they be turned towards the listening position?
Is the WiiM Amp Pro powerful enough for these speakers? I have a small room (25 m2) and listen at low to medium volumes.
Regarding the measurements of the horizontal and vertical radiation: Do these still sound good when moving to the sides / standing up / walking around? My listening position is 3 meters away from the speakers.
Where is the acoustic center? At tweeter level or between the tweeter and the woofer?
Can you point them off-axis / parallel to each other? Or should they be turned towards the listening position?
Is the WiiM Amp Pro powerful enough for these speakers? I have a small room (25 m2) and listen at low to medium volumes.
Regarding the measurements of the horizontal and vertical radiation: Do these still sound good when moving to the sides / standing up / walking around? My listening position is 3 meters away from the speakers.
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Did you watch Erin's vid? He answers much of that.
Toshiba191
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I did watch the video, but my questions are not answered directly.
in a nutshell.. the acoustic center was recorded as between the woofer/ tweeter(iirc)... off axis? room dependent...wiim ? yes, depending on need wiim could be plenty...standing /walking around ? probably not very good in that regard. coaxial should be "better"...
I just received my Sierra 1 V2's this week - currently have them set up in a 12'x18' apartment living room, about 50/50 for home theater and music. I plan to move into a house in the next year which would allow me to add a subwoofer, although I'm wondering if the LX's bass would be an equal alternative. I'd like to keep this all under $1500 - the question is S1V2 with sub or LX without sub? Thanks!
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totti1965
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Clear decision: Sierra 1 V2 with subs (perhaps one day with 2 Subs) - no matter if for music or for movies!
A short look at www.spinorama.org gives the answer: 8.65/10 for Sierra 1 V2 with perfect sub vs. 6.8 for the Sierra LX!!!
The deep frequencies are 1/3 of the fun!
A (pair of) Rythmic sealed subwoofer(s) would be a perfect choice for you. Good enough for movies and perfect and extremely clear and transparent for music listening.
Spinorama.org:
Ascend Acoustics Sierra 1 V2 is a passive bookshelves that cost around 998 USD for a pair.
- Quality of the measurement data is high.
- Origin of the data is Ascend Acoustics.
- Format of the data is a set of 36 horizontal and 36 vertical measurements .
- -3dB (resp. -6db) point v.s. reference is at 53.0Hz (resp. 45.0Hz).
- Reference level is normalised to -0.4dB computed over the frequency range [300.0Hz, 5000.0Hz].
- Frequency deviation is 2.7dB over the same frequency range.
- Tonality (Preference) Score
- Tonality (Preference) Score is 6.7 and would be 8.65with a perfect subwoofer.
- Details: NBD: ON 0.309, LW 0.22, SP 0.21, PIR 0.17; SM: SP0.985, PIR0.97; LFQ 0.524, LFX 41Hz
- Tonality (Preference) Score is 7.04 with an EQ and would be 8.82with a perfect subwoofer and the same EQ.
- Details: NBD: ON 0.249, LW 0.181, SP 0.22, PIR 0.161; SM: SP0.957, PIR0.965; LFQ 0.524, LFX 37Hz
- Tonality (Preference) Score is 6.7 and would be 8.65with a perfect subwoofer.
- Link to original Review: eac review. Links to other reviews: yt review , history review , asr review .
- Vendor specifications:
- Sensitivity 83 dB
- Impedance 8 Ohm
- Size
- Width 190mm
- Height 362mm
- Depth 267mm
- Weight 8.4kg
ZolaIII
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In 2.2 crossed at 120 Hz.
Sub proposition is:
And he will need unbalanced multichannel DAC (and separate procesor) or combo DSP like MiniDSP Flex.
Pareto Pragmatic
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As an LX owner, I agree. For most people, I think that is a better option for music as well. But 50/50? Sub all the way.
I would never use a sub with the LX, why pay for 40hz performance if you don't use it?
totti1965
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Do you have any recommendation for @jcap96 for 2.2 listening with 2 subs in regard of multichannel DAC and the processor?
In regard of music listening the use of 2 Subwoofers (one left and one right, and maybe 180 Hz Crossover frequency) to expand the bandwith of the speakers for deep bass, isn‘t it more a kind of 2.0?
Because no extra channels are needed.
ZolaIII
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Well depends on the platform, I use desktop PC and you will be surprised how much a cheap PCI-E card like Creative SB Z SE (100$) can give with REW, mic and JRiver. Just enough even if you are picky regarding DAC but neads permanent limit - 2 dB again not a problem to drive power amplifiers. 103~104 dB mains and over 90 back chenels which is more than enough for sub's. Bean doing more or the less so from beginning of milenium. If you don't have intend getting into PC or embed DIY stuff (you will still need to do it at least a little bit) I hope you can find and afford something like MiniDSP Flex (500$) 2x4 (and up the line depending what your needs might be even including mixing balanced and unbalanced I/O like Flex HTx (1000$) if it's worth it to you. Or you can chose to go balanced on both sides with at least 4x output chenel audio interface from like MOTU or Tooping (250~350$).
I assure you 120 is enough for Sierra 1 V2 they won't have a swing as dual 8" woffer's on three way floarstand but they will do main drum/beat/ritam section more than fine to let's say mid range. Reason for crossover at 120 Hz is actually for many reasons one of them being equal loudness compensation (so that it stays on the same woffer's and knew is at 105 Hz) second one (is Rino babe, sorry can't help it) ideally should be around 250 Hz to do the same for mids from that earlier mention main bass drum/beat/ritam part and that are two main peaks (low bass reinforcement and main bass ritam section) you will meet in great majority of recorded materials (music most of all but almost everything has some), there will be other peaks in mids and highs but nothing even remotely as high or as hard.
That's a perfect bass (as much as there is a such thing) and follows ELC quote nicely even to low 60's SPL (with ambient noise and decay being threshold). And you can get there with almost perfect frequency response and very good to great time domain with practice regarding room with clever thinking, some basic placement rules and limited accustic treatment even in small room.
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Justin8888
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these or the ls50 meta in nearfield (desktop)? Both with a sub.
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Id prefer the coaxial ls50 nearfield
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